System and method for providing closed subscriber groups in a packet-based wireless communication system

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing radio frequency transceiver user equipment in a packet based radio frequency signaling communication system are disclosed. User equipment is provided with closed subscriber group “CSG” capability including permanent storage for a CSG whitelist, the whitelist including identifiers of CSGs the user equipment is a member of. Base stations transmit signals including identifiers corresponding to CSGs the base station supports. The base station or cell selection process performed by the user equipment includes selecting cells that are part of the CSG whitelist. In additional embodiments, the user equipment includes user alterable storage for a user controlled CSG whitelist. The user alterable storage may further be partitioned into permanent and temporary portions. In an exemplary method, the user controls the cell selection process using the CSG whitelist information stored in the user equipment. Methods for managing the CSG whitelist are described.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 037,638, filed on Mar. 18, 2008, which is incorporated herein by reference.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]The present invention is directed, in general, to communication systems and, more particularly, to a system and method for providing the use of closed subscriber group functions in a packet or circuit based communication system that includes discontinuous reception, VoIP packet support and wireless devices while allowing for efficient use, simple implementation and conservation of system resources.BACKGROUND[0003]As wireless communication systems such as cellular telephone, satellite, and microwave communication systems become widely deployed and continue to attract a growing number of users, there is a pressing need to accommodate a large and variable number of communication subsystems transmitting a growing volume of data with a fixed resource such as a fixed channel bandwidth accommodati...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0014]In another exemplary embodiment, when performing cell selection at power up or at other times, the UE may be made to automatically search for cells that are on the CSG whitelist. Cells or eNode B stations will transmit CSG information in their beacon signals so that the UEs can know which CSGs the cells belong to. In another exemplary embodiment, this search may be user controlled. By searching for these preferred cells first, power for the battery powered UE may be conserved, and cell selection may be performed faster. In one alternative embodiment, the UE may automatically background scan for cells on the whitelist and may indicate to the user when such a cell is located. Alternatively, the UE may automatically background scan one or more specific cells on the whitelist. In another alternative embodiment, the background scan may be set to scan for any CSG cell that may be located in the vicinity of the UE, disregarding whether they belong to a CSG on the whitelist. In another alternative embodiment, the UE may compare additional identified cells that are members of the CSG whitelist and automatically select the best cell based on reception, power, loading or other parameters.

[0016]By allowing the user to control how the cell selection or background scanning is done, the user may control which cell the UE identifies and conserve battery power used in the selection task. The user may, in another exemplary embodiment, identify particular cells for selection and further limit the time and power consumed by the UE in the cell selection and / or background scan tasks.

Problems solved by technology

Traditional communication system designs employing a fixed resource (e.g., a fixed data rate for each user) have become challenged to provide high, but flexible, data transmission rates in view of the rapidly growing customer base.

The need to accommodate the CSG functions in the environment poses several problems for the system.

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